Forever Sixteen
by Raiderette Levin
Summary: For Francie Fairchild, a doll living in a suburban American neighborhood, true love is something that she had always wished for. Her beautiful cousin Barbie always got the dates and the most beautiful clothing, while she was stuck as a plain sixteen year old. Francie thinks that being forever young is a curse and takes a risk that will change the course of her life forever.
1. Chapter 1

_1968_

I hadn't meant to be so absolutely selfish, but things had just turned out so differently in real life than they did in the games that little Janet Crawford would play with her friends. My cousin, Barbie, was the pretty one, after all. While she was tall and shapely, with real eyelashes, titan hair, and a twist n' turn waist, my legs didn't even bend. Barbie was the one that Ken should have fallen for, just the way that Janet always played out.

Why, then, did it not happen that way?

I'll admit, even I peered out of the doll case the day that little Janet had her birthday party and unwrapped the New Talking Good-Lookin' Ken. We had never seen a Ken before, besides the one with blotchy flocked hair that Janet's best friend Mitzi owned, and we had certainly never seen a Ken as good-looking as that one. While Stacey, Midge, Barbie, and Skipper giggled and talked on and on about how handsome he was, I watched in wonder as he was removed from his box. I smiled, remembering that day in 1967 when Janet had pulled me free from my own packaging.

He was introduced to us that night, right before little Janet's eight-thirty curfew. She dressed him in a groovy outfit that had also been gifted to her, put Barbie in a new dress called Fashion Shiner, and sent them out on their first date. When Mrs. Crawford came in to put Janet to bed, all of we dolls were left out on the floor. After the light was turned off and the door was closed, we waited a long time before getting up and having adventures of our own.

The first thing Midge did was close herself in the case to change clothes; the rest of us flocked to Ken. He turned out to be as funny and friendly as he was good-looking. After telling us about his plight from factory to Janet's house (all new dolls told this story as an introduction), he kept us laughing by pulling his cord and showing us all of the funny things he was programmed to say. I think it would be accurate to say that we were all instantly charmed.

"Don't you get tired of saying all of those silly things?" asked my amused cousin.

"I'm designed to say all the words you want to hear!"

A flattered squeal rose up from Midge, Stacey, and Barbie. While they, along with Skipper, took turns pulling his cord, I stood by, shyly watching. This Ken seemed like a funny guy, and I was sure glad that he was going to be part of the gang. One thing I knew for sure was that he was a lot nicer than Mitzi's Ken, and he seemed just as keen as Janet's old Allan doll. Allan had been one of my best friends before he fell off of the window sill at Mitzi's house and never came home. We poor dolls are so fragile.

"Hi, I'm Ken. Let's go to the big game tonight. What are you doing next weekend? Why don't we all go to the movies? Let's go listen to Barbie's records. Let's go visit Barbie."

He said them all as the girls giggled and pulled his cord. He was a good sport about it, smiling in response to their amusing laughter. And as he spoke over and over again, he looked over to me and winked. I quickly looked away, surely blushing pinker than my factory paint.

What a night we had! We spent the whole time talking with Ken, and showing him all of the outfits and accessories that Janet had. Before we knew it, the sun was coming up, and it was time to reclaim the clothing and positions that our owner had placed us in. As the girls hurried to change their clothes, I stood aside, finding my rightful position. Just as I was about to sit, New Talking Good-Lookin' Ken approached me.

"I don't believe I caught your name." He was smiling that same, good-looking molded smile that the designers at Mattel had worked so hard to design and achieve.

I shyly shifted my gaze down to my pink flats, and replied, "I'm Francie Fairchild, Barbie's cousin."

He thrust out his hand. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you!" As I gently shook his hand, he continued. "I noticed that you were standing off to the side. I hope we weren't excluding you."

I shook my hand. "Oh no, not at all. I just don't like big crowds, that's all." I looked up to him. "It must be awful, having that string coming out of your back that makes you say things."

He laughed nicely. "Well, thanks for the concern, but it really isn't so bad. After all, the kids think it's great. Besides, it's the new thing."

"Really?" The thought of having a speaking mechanism crammed inside of my small plastic body and a string hanging out of my back unnerved me.

"Yeah, I knew a Barbie a lot like your cousin there at the factory, but she had a cord and said things. I knew a Stacey there, too, same story."

"Really? I never would have guessed." Would such a Barbie or Stacey someday move into our house, I wondered.

"No Francies, though. They're still as plain and regular as always…"

I nodded, figuring that he must have been calling me plain. I was looking a little bit ragged those days. I hadn't worn a new outfit for a long while, and my hair was slowly beginning to lose its luster.

"… Which is just the way they ought to be. It's refreshing to talk to a girl who isn't a fashion model every now and again." He offered me another smile that half of my mouth returned. "Well, nice meeting you, Francie Fairchild. I hope we'll find the time to talk again."

"Yes, me too, Ken." As he turned to go reclaim his spot on the carpet, I added, "Welcome to the group."

He smiled and replied before flopping down, "Thanks, Francie, I'm really glad to be here."

And from that, I never would have expected things to turn out the way that they did. Ken, with his good looks and funny statements, would be perfect for Barbie. Janet and Mitzi saw that, too. Every time we were played with, Barbie and Ken were always a couple. I can't even count the number of times that I got to be the maid in their house after they got married, or the times I got to be a waitress in a café they dated at. We dolls are stuck at the same age and maturity forever, so it was great knowing that Barbie would have somebody to love for all time.

But it didn't happen that way, and I just felt so guilty that it didn't. That was the way it should have been, any advertisement or little girl would tell you so, but things turned out differently at the Crawford house, and it started with Ken's first day and the first time he talked to me. I won't go into specifics or anything, because I still feel so bad about it, but Ken and I fell in love. I know you're probably wondering how this can be, considering that he was New Talking Good-Lookin' Ken and I'm just a regular old Francie, but really, it happened. And it was awful.

Well, of course I don't mean that it was awful, because really, it was quite wonderful, but it was awful because it was out of line and unwelcomed by the other dolls, especially Barbie. She liked Ken a whole lot, and who can blame her considering that they were basically made for each other, but Ken did not feel the same way. He liked me, and although it was wrong of me, I liked him, too.

During our nighttime excursions, while Barbie, Midge, Stacey, and Skipper tried on clothes and put on fashion shows, Ken and I would stand nearby and talk. He was so funny and charming, he always had me giggling.

"You know, Francie, it's a gas to hang out with somebody who isn't just interested in fashion and modeling all of the time."

"Well… You can't blame them. They _are_ fashion dolls after all." It was our fate to love clothing, accessories, and dressing up. We had to love _all _fashion, too, because most of the time, what we wore was not up to us. We each had our own tastes, though. Midge liked the older fashions, and I was biased towards mod fashion. Stacey loved miniskirts, and Barbie loved it all.

"I know, but you'd think they could have some other interests as well."

An idea struck me. "We do have a record player, and two records to go with it." The record player had come with one of Midge's favorite Dresses—a pink gingham sundress with an embroidered white linen collar. "Would you like to listen to records?"

"Groovy, Francie! I'd love that!"

We pulled out the record player and the records, setting the player in a good location. I held one record in each hand and showed them to Ken. "Do you want to hear the red one, or the blue one?"

"Let's put on the red."

I placed the red record on the player and started it up. It ended up being a fun rock instrumental, great for dancing. Ken instantly began to groove.

"Come on, Francie, dance with me!"

"Oh, I can't do that, Ken, I'm a terrible dancer! My waist doesn't twist, and my knees don't even bend!"

"Just do your best! Come on!"

And that particular night, we played the records over and over and danced to them. I'll admit that it felt awkward dancing without many areas of motion, but I did the best I could and it became a night to remember. And the more and more I liked Ken, the more and more guilty I felt, and the worse my relationship with Barbie became.

Barbie pulled me aside one night, saying that she wanted to talk with me. Stacey and Midge kept Ken occupied by pulling his cord and making him say all of those silly phrases while Barbie took me behind the case for a chat.

"Francie, how come you don't spend any time with me and the girls anymore at night?"

"I do," I replied. "We played dress-up together just a few nights ago."

"But that was a rare occurrence these days. Ever since Ken came on the scene, you've been spending all of your time with him." She put a hand on my shoulder. "We miss you, Francie."

I thought about that. She was right—I had been spending a lot of my time with Ken since his arrival, but it was just so much more interesting to talk to him, dance, or go on short walks than it was to play dress-up every night.

"Gee, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Barbie, or the other girls', but I just don't like playing dress-up every night. I get kind of tired of putting on the same clothes all of the time and parading about in them for everybody to see." I paused for a while and then continued. "I think that Ken is a very interesting person to talk to, and ever since Allan went missing, it seems that all I've done at night is play dress-up. I used to go exploring with Allan, or even play his go-go guitar and sing, and I kind of missed doing that sort of thing. But Ken likes to listen to records and go on walks—it's lots of fun!"

The concern never left my cousin's big blue eyes. "I know you miss Allan, Francie, but Ken isn't Allan. Besides, Janet designated Ken to be _my _boyfriend, and I don't want you getting the wrong ideas. Unlike Allan, Ken was _made_ to be a charmer, and I don't want you getting hurt."

I was touched. There I was, falling for my own cousin's boyfriend, and she was concerned about my own well-being. "I really appreciate your concern, Barbie, but I think that I'll be okay." I offered her a smile. "If you or any of the other girls wants to take a break from dress-up one night, you're more than welcome to join us."

The girls never took a break from dress-up, and Ken and I continued to do the things we liked. One night, I even took out Allan's old go-go guitar and played it for Ken. My dear old friend had once told me before his disappearance that if he ever got lost, that he wanted me to take his go-go guitar. I always kept it wrapped in my swimsuit for safe keeping.

As I sang a song that Janet often played on her little red record player, Ken listened, smiling his easy, plastic smile. It was by an English group called the Troggs that Stacey just went wild for. The chords were really pretty easy, and it was one of the only songs that I had learned.

When I was done, Ken clapped and cheered. "Out of sight, Francie, out of sight!"

"Thank you." I blushed, ducking under the thin guitar strap. I was a little embarrassed about performing in front of Ken, but since he had enjoyed himself, it was well worth it.

"You know, you really are the grooviest doll I've met," he said with a smile.

"Oh you're just being nice…"

"No, I mean it, I really do." He looked at me for a long while, just smiling. It couldn't be so. I was plain, short, without pierced ears and not even having real eyelashes. Besides, he was supposed to be Barbie's boyfriend. He couldn't think that I was so special just because I didn't play dress-up all of the time.

"I love you, Francie."

He _what_? No, he couldn't be serious. Him, New Talking Good-Lookin' Ken in love with me, Straight Leg Francie Fairchild? It was both the best and the worst thing anybody had ever said to me in my life. I didn't know what to say.

"Ken…"

"I mean it, though, Francie, I love you." He said his next set of words cautiously. "Do you… love me?"

"I can't answer that," I replied, averting my gaze in shame. "Because if I tell the truth, I'll hurt Barbie, and if I lie, I'll hurt you."

Ken's eyes willed with sympathy. "I'm sorry, Francie, I guess I never realized how hard it is for you cousin dolls. You were designed to take the backseat to Barbie."

"It's okay, Ken, just please don't be upset."

He laid a comforting hand on my shoulder. "I understand, okay? It can be our secret."

I only hoped that Barbie would understand.


	2. Chapter 2

I should have known that I wouldn't be able to keep anything so big from Barbie. She and I had come home from Kmart on the exact same day, and had been cousins and good friends ever since. As much as I liked Ken, it would have been foolish of me to let him ever get between the bond that Barbie and I shared. But I'd never known a doll quite like him before, and every time I thought that I should try to forget him, I couldn't.

Barbie pulled me aside for another chat not long after Ken had made his startling revelation. While the other girls played around with Ken and his pull cord, Barbie and I went behind the case to talk.

"Francie, didn't I warn you about Ken?" she said, not quite scolding, but not as kindly as she usually spoke. "It's not a good idea for you to be spending so much time with him."

I lowered my gaze. "I'm sorry, Barbie, I just can't help it. Ken has become one of my very good friends, and since Allan went away, it's nice to have a friend like Ken."

"But Ken isn't just a friend to you, is he Francie?"

I knew that Barbie was smart, but I didn't expect to be confronted with the truth, just like that. If dolls were capable of shedding tears, I would have done so right then.

"Oh, please forgive me, Barbie, I didn't mean to be so shady and underhanded." I looked to her, hoping she could read the remorse in my brown painted eyes. "I didn't mean to fall in love with Ken, honest, it just happened that way. I know it's wrong of me, I know that he's your boyfriend, but I couldn't help myself. I've always wanted to know true love, and I guess I just thought that maybe—"

"Francie." Barbie's voice softened as she placed a manicured hand on my shoulder. "You're only sixteen. You're too young to know what true love is."

That news was the worst that I'd ever heard, worse than Ken confessing his affections for me. I was too young to know what true love was? If that was the case, than I was doomed, I'd never know. I was created to be sixteen, and I'd be sixteen forever. I was created to never know true love, and yet I had tried to find it in my cousin's boyfriend. How could Barbie ever forgive me?

"I'm so sorry, Barbie!" I pleaded. "I had no idea! I didn't mean to cause you any harm…"

"You're young, after all, I can't expect you to have known that." She withdrew her hand and looked me straight in the eyes. "Just stay away from Ken, and I'm sure things will be just fine."

I nodded, just because I felt like it was the thing to do. I didn't want to never spend any time with Ken—he had filled a void that Allan had left when he went away—but I didn't want to hurt Barbie further. I told myself that I would play dress-up with the girls that night, and I would no longer take walks, listen to records, or play my go-go guitar with Ken ever again.

But I didn't want to hurt him, either.

After several nights of playing dress-up and avoiding Ken, I just couldn't take it anymore. I got out Allan's go-go guitar and sat behind the doll case where I could be alone. Playing dress-up was kind of fun, but it quickly lost its appeal. All I could think about were all of the fun things that Ken and I had done together, and how much I missed dancing with him.

As I sat back there, strumming on the go-go guitar, all I could think about poor Skipper, and how lonely it must have been to be stuck at her age forever. At least at sixteen, you can _think _that you've found true love, but at ten, all you can do is play all day and fantasize that someday you'd grow up. It made me feel a bit better to know that I had been made into a Francie and not a Skipper, but I still felt overwhelmed with guilt and misery for even getting myself into such a mess.

Somebody came around to my side of the case, but I didn't even bother to look up from my go-go guitar. It was probably just Skipper, anyways, showing me just how grown-up she looked in Barbie's dress or Midge's shoes. As soon as they sat down beside me, I knew that it was Ken.

"Francie." He spoke my name, but I didn't respond. "Francie, what's happening?"

I felt so bad for the way that I was treating him, but I couldn't get Barbie's words out of my head. Finally, I looked to him and said, "I'm only sixteen, Ken, I'm too young for love."

He seemed confused. "Who told you that?"

I didn't want to tell him that was Barbie, so I attempted to avoid the question. "It's true, though, isn't it?"

"No." Ken looked me directly in the eyes. "Sixteen is plenty old to love somebody. Francie, you're a nice girl with a great big heart and a groovy disposition. Don't let other dolls push you around or tell you what you are and aren't capable of." He smiled at me sadly and the tapped the tip of my vinyl nose. "You never speak badly about anybody, and I'd say that proves that you're not too young for love."

Smiling slightly, I wanted to cry again, not because I was hurting people, but because Ken was so sweet and reassuring.

"Oh Ken, I'm sorry that I've been ignoring you, I just thought that I'd been neglecting Barbie and the other girls and that I should spend some time with them."

"Or maybe Barbie told you to leave me alone? Maybe Barbie told you that you were too young for love?" He smiled the slightest bit. "Don't let her bother you, Francie. What Janet makes happen is purely make-believe. Barbie is pretty, and she's a nice girl, but she doesn't have anything on you. You're boss, Francie, and I love you."

Rather uncertainly, I replied, "I love you too, Ken." As horrible as I was being, I felt rather liberated in finally speaking my feelings. Though I was being double-faced and terrible and all of that, I didn't really care. If Ken didn't think that I wasn't too young for love, than that must have meant that he liked me as I was, and that I didn't need to be older to be deserving of his affections.

Ken smiled beyond the limitations of his molded grin. "So you finally admit it, huh?"

I looked away, blushing a color that surely no Francie doll had ever worn before. Ken took my hand in his and pat it comfortingly with his other hand.

"And there's nothing wrong with it, Francie, so don't let anybody tell you otherwise."

I would like to say that everything was better from there and that was where the story ended, but that was not so. My relationship with Barbie was still strained, and I still felt guilty for loving Ken. I was just so confused; I didn't know what I was supposed to do or how I was supposed to feel. As the days and nights went by, I grew increasingly unhappy and trapped feeling. I was being pulled in two directions and knew that it was only a matter of time before something drastic happened. I was right about the something drastic, but it took a form that was completely unexpected.

One sunny day, Mr. and Mrs. Crawford took Janet and Mitzi to the park for a play day. Both girls packed up their doll cases and brought all of their Mattel dolls along. The two children set up under a tree and played a very strange game in which Ken and Barbie were singers and Mitzi's Ken was the greedy manager. Midge, Stacey, and Skipper, and Mitzi's dolls played the roles of fans, while I was cast as the manager's girlfriend. After a tiring day, the Crawfords called to the girls, telling them that it was time to pack up and go home.

"Just a minute!" Janet called back, hoping to buy more time.

"You can finish up at home. Now, come on girls!" Mrs. Crawford was always a very punctual woman.

"Coming!" The girls hurriedly began packing up their doll cases, searching the area for anything that they had missed.

"I think that's it," said Mitzi, standing.

"Me too. Let's go!"

As the girls ran off, they didn't even notice that they had left me in the grass, dressed in Hi-Teen, one of my favorite ensembles. At first I thought that they would discover their mistake and come back for me, but as the park grew vacant and the sky grew dark, I knew that I had been left there and that nobody would come rescue me.

I tried to keep my head and thought that I might walk home, but when I realized that I didn't know how to get there, an overwhelming fear and sadness fell over me. I'd never been on my own in a strange environment before, and I had never ever before been abandoned. Would they ever come back for me? Would a different child pick me up come morning and take me home? Would I ever see my friends again? As I tried to decide what to do, I wished that dolls could cry. Janet always seemed to feel better after she cried about something, and it was painful being incapable. I felt so sad and lonely, but I didn't know what to do.

Suddenly, it struck me to call out for help. Getting to my feet, I called as loud as I could, "Hello? Is anybody out there? Anybody? I'm lost, and I need help getting home!"

Suddenly, a large shadow loomed over me and something huge crushed the grass beside me. I tried to run away, but a large adult hand soon grabbed me and lifted me up. I was soon staring at the face of a strange old lady. She smiled a mouth full of gold, yellow, and blackened teeth, and said in a deep, husky voice, "What's wrong, my dear? Why are you calling for help?"

"I've been abandoned," I explained. "The little girl who owns me left me here, and I don't know how to get home."

"Hush, hush little one," she cooed, stroking my hair carefully with one finger. "If you've been abandoned, I don't think that they want you at home."

"But they must! I have friends there—two cousins, a-and Ken, and Allan's go-go guitar!"

She chuckled throatily, emitting a warm, sour wind. "And so you do, but you weren't left here by accident, no, no. You must have been left here because your little girl didn't want you anymore."

Suddenly, a strange thought entered my mind. Had little Janet Crawford found out about me and Ken, and was this her way of punishing me? It seemed so unreal and far-fetched, but there I was talking to an old lady, me, a doll. I felt so awful that before I knew it, I was spilling out my heart to the haggard old lady.

"She must have found out about me and Ken!" I explained. "I fell in love with my beautiful cousin's boyfriend, and then I didn't listen to Barbie when she told me that I was too young for love and that I should leave Ken alone! Oh, no wonder she abandoned me! I've been such a naughty doll!"

"There ,there, little one," the old woman said, lifting my chin gently with a wrinkled finger.

"No, it's true, it's true! Oh—" I turned, looking towards the grassy ground. "I wish I were a human! Then I could grow up and fall in love without having to feel guilty all of the time! I could actually be able to bend and to dance, and to _cry_…"

The haggard woman's eyes lit up. "What's that you say? You'd like to be a real live girl?" When I didn't respond, she continued. "I can make you into a real girl."

Shocked, I turned to her, eyes wider than they had been painted. "You can turn me into a _girl_?"

"If that's what you wish. Just say it again, and I can do it in a snap."

I stared at her incredulously. She could turn me, a doll, into a real live human girl? At first I thought that I must have been crazy for saying anything about being human, but then I realized how good it would be. I wouldn't be around to hurt Barbie or Ken, and I could move, cry, and grow up and find true love. It seemed almost too good to be true! Could she really do it?

"Can you really…?"

"Just say the words, my dear."

Excitedly, I parted my pink lips to speak, but she put her fingertip over my mouth to silence me. "I'll turn you into a human under _one _condition: you agree to be my daughter once you are human."

I nodded. "Yes, of course!" I'd never had a mother before, and it was just another thing I often dreamed of having.

She smiled nicely. "Alright then. Tell Mama dear what you want."

"I want to be a human!"

Before I knew it, she was letting go of me and I was standing on the ground, towering over her. Unsure if it was real, I looked down and saw two human feet wearing hot pink flats and two human hands, no nail polish. I twirled and jumped, and then I laughed.

"Oh… Oh Mama, this is wonderful! I don't know how to thank you."

My new mother, who was now several inches below me, smiled graciously and said, "Just be my obedient, loving daughter and that will be payment enough."

"Oh Mama, thank you! Thank you!" I danced all around, hopping and jumping, and bending my waist and knees. What a feeling to be human! What a feeling indeed!

Mama smiled up at me, her Indian corn teeth sparkling. "And what is your name, my child?"

"Francie Fairchild."

Her smile grew larger. "I like that. It's pretty." She took my new, smooth hand in her frail wrinkled one and said, "Come along, my daughter. Let's go home."

Following Mama home, I didn't bother looking back. I was a real live girl, now. I had a mother, a place to live, and someday I would grow up and find true love.


End file.
